Biggest Crypto Hedge Funds and What They Tell About the Market

The complete market cap for all cryptocurrencies stands at $293 billion, and whereas a lot of this worth has been generated by particular person merchants shopping for and promoting their very own non-public stashes of crypto, it is also largely the results of massive funding funds. These are corporations which have crypto belongings underneath administration price as a lot as $1 billion or upward, with most of them qualifying because the whales the cryptocurrency neighborhood usually talks about after each market motion.

But, apart from merely buying and selling Bitcoin, Ether or many different cryptocurrencies, funds additionally usually make investments enterprise capital (VC) in blockchain — and crypto-related startups. This makes them doubly vital for the expansion of the cryptocurrency trade, provided that they help not solely the currencies of the long run, but additionally the platforms and corporations that may harness these currencies to construct totally new monetary ecosystems.

That stated, most of funds have been backed by conventional enterprise capital, comparable to Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital. So, regardless that they’re supporting the emergence of the brand new crypto economic system, it is going to be one that may have sturdy, foundational hyperlinks with the monetary system — one thing many in the neighborhood assume crypto will substitute.

The highest 5

Acquiring dependable, standardized knowledge on the belongings underneath administration of every main crypto fund could be very tough, if not unattainable. Accordingly, this prime 5 does not declare to be fully authoritative, provided that it gleans accessible knowledge from a wide range of sources printed at a wide range of occasions. Nonetheless, it supplies a reasonably strong account of the 5 corporations which might be most certainly the most important funds working in crypto at the moment, by way of digital belongings underneath administration and investments in crypto-related startups.

Digital Foreign money Group/Grayscale Investments

Digital Foreign money Group was based in 2015 by Barry Silbert, who had beforehand invested in such early cryptocurrency corporations as Coinbase, Ripple and BitPay. It already has invested in practically 130 crypto-related initiatives, with the common measurement of seed rounds it was concerned in between 2016 and 2018 being $3.24 million. On condition that it has extra investments than just about each different fund within the trade, it is going to be no shock to listen to that it has backed a few of the most well-known crypto initiatives and corporations, together with Circle, Chainalysis, Blockchain, Shapeshift, Parity, Ledger, Luno, Kraken, Korbit and eToro.

One in all its investments is Grayscale, a subsidiary of Digital Foreign money Group that invests straight in cryptocurrencies and digital belongings. Grayscale introduced in its Q2 2019 monetary report that it had belongings underneath administration (AUM) price $2.7 billion. As a sign of simply how unstable the AUM determine could be, it additionally revealed that this quantity had tripled because the first quarter of 2019, with its devoted Bitcoin Belief having elevated 300% in comparison with the identical time final 12 months.

Extra revealingly, Grayscale’s newest report additionally detailed how most demand for crypto funding comes from institutional buyers — who’ve represented 84% of its shopper base since July 2018. As such, it is clear that, removed from being a grassroots-based, decentralized ecosystem, crypto is already pushed very a lot by massive enterprise and massive cash.

Polychain Capital

Based in 2016 by cryptocurrency investor Olaf Carlson-Wee, Polychain Capital is one other crypto-focused hedge fund that nonetheless has backing from noncrypto enterprise capitalists. Again on the finish of 2014, it was reported that its AUM totalled $591.5 million, having plunged from a excessive on the finish of 2017 of round $1 billion. Nonetheless, knowledge from Crypto Fund Analysis states that, as of June 2019, it has $967 million of cryptocurrency underneath administration.

As with most different main funds, it additionally invests in blockchain- and crypto-related startups, with its tally of investments coming to 37 (in accordance with Crunchbase). These embrace Coinbase, Kik, Celo and dYdX, which Polychain has been in a position to spend money on thanks largely to the elevating of round $175 million for its enterprise capital fund on the finish of 2018.

One factor that is price noting about Polychain Capital is that it has acquired vital backing for its enterprise capital and crypto funds from main VC corporations. In 2017, it closed a $200 million funding spherical wherein Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and Union Sq. Ventures all participated. It’s, subsequently, as a lot a product of conventional finance as it’s of the brand new cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Pantera Capital

Initially based in 2003 and primarily based in San Francisco, Pantera Capital was as soon as a standard funding fund, though it shifted its focus in 2013 to cryptocurrencies and blockchain initiatives. In keeping with a spread of estimates, it has belongings underneath administration price something from $335 million to $724 million, though this may occasionally have fluctuated in latest months. It has additionally invested a substantial sum in 72 crypto-related startups and initiatives, with it having raised at the very least $200 million in complete from outdoors enterprise capital with a purpose to fund such investments ($13 million in 2016, $25 million in 2017, and $175 million in 2018-2019).

Pantera Capital has backers from outdoors the cryptocurrency trade, which is critical insofar because it signifies not solely mainstream curiosity in crypto but additionally the chance that it could really feel some sort of oblique strain to spend money on initiatives that might be extra pleasing to its monetary backers.

As for Pantera Capital’s common outlook, it could come as no shock to listen to that the fund could be very bullish on the way forward for cryptocurrency and blockchain. In July, its CEO and founder, Dan Morehead, predicted that Bitcoin might hit $42,000 by the tip of 12 months and that it might climb as excessive as $356,000 in a few years.

Regardless of this confidence, Pantera Capital isn’t any stranger to setbacks. For example, it admitted in December 2018 that it could possibly be pressured to pay refunds and fines for round 25% of its preliminary coin providing portfolio, provided that roughly this proportion of the portfolio is probably going in violating American securities legal guidelines. Equally, throughout the 2018 bear market, its digital asset fund (i.e., its cryptocurrency fund) misplaced round 77% over the primary 10 months of that 12 months.

Galaxy Digital

Launched in New York Metropolis in 2018 by former Goldman Sachs accomplice Michael Novogratz, Galaxy Digital is one other hundred-million-dollar crypto hedge fund. As of the tip of June 2019, its complete belongings underneath administration is $393.Three million, having dipped from Might’s complete of $421.6 million. Throughout 2018, the fund posted a internet loss on its steadiness sheet of $272.7 million, largely due to the bear market and crumbling crypto costs.

Along with investments in cryptocurrency, Galaxy Digital has additionally invested in round 20 crypto-related initiatives, together with Bakkt, BlockFi, Ripple, Block.one, BitFury, BitGo and Bitstamp. As with the opposite funds on this listing, such ventures have been made potential by investments from noncrypto backers. That is as a result of when Galaxy Digital launched in January 2018, it had not solely $400 million of Novogratz’s personal capital but additionally raised an additional $200 million by floating the corporate on Canada’s TSX alternate.

Andreessen Horowitz

Whereas it is centered totally on corporations working outdoors of the cryptocurrency sector, Andreessen Horowitz established its personal crypto funding fund, known as a16z. As of writing, a16z claims that its fund is price $350 million, whereas again in June 2018, when it was launched, the full got here to $300 million. It is a massive determine within the context of the crypto trade, however in comparison with the $7 billion in belongings that Andreessen Horowitz manages in complete, it appears a little bit extra modest. Nonetheless, it is doubtless that the worth of a16z has elevated since Might. Extra importantly, nonetheless, is the truth that an enormous funding fund with $7 billion in AUM can be enthusiastic about crypto, which is a major vote of confidence for the trade.

This vote of confidence does not derive solely from direct funding in cryptocurrencies, nonetheless. Andreesseen Horowitz and a16z have additionally thrown enterprise capital at a vary of cryptocurrency startups, spanning Coinbase, Maker, Filecoin, dYdX and CryptoKitties. For instance, in August 2018, the fund, along with Polychain Capital, invested $105 million in blockchain-based cloud startup Dfinity, having already contributed a mixed $61 million in a earlier spherical in February of that 12 months.

Even forgetting a16z, Andreesseen Horowitz is subsequently closely invested within the cryptocurrency trade and is without doubt one of the greatest funds working within the house at the moment. Extra encouragingly, latest occasions point out that it desires to contain itself much more closely within the sector — as in April of this 12 months, it introduced plans to restructure its total enterprise and register its workers as monetary advisors. The explanation? This would offer it with the authorized foundation to have interaction extra in riskier ventures, comparable to cryptocurrencies.

The remainder

In fact, these aren’t the one massive funding funds working in crypto to the tune of tons of of thousands and thousands of {dollars}. Others embrace:

Union Sq. Ventures, which has round $256 million of cryptocurrency belongings underneath administration, in accordance with Crypto Fund Analysis.

Blockchain Capital, which launched in 2018 and raised $150 million for its new fund in March 2018, bringing its complete AUM to $250 million.

IDG Capital, which launched in China in 1992 and invests in noncrypto in addition to crypto belongings, and has $210 million digital belongings underneath administration.

BlockTower Capital, which launched in 2017 and has round $130 million in AUM (as of December 2018).

Increase VC, a California-based fund that launched in 2014, which has $95 million in AUM.

Fenbushi Capital, a China-based crypto fund that had $50 million in belongings underneath administration in early 2018.

These aren’t the one vital funds working within the crypto trade. Nonetheless, in a rigorous research printed in Might 2019, PwC and funding agency Elwood concluded that the overwhelming majority of cryptocurrency funding funds are in actual fact fairly small.

For example, the survey discovered that greater than 60% of 150 lively crypto hedge funds have lower than $10 million in AUM, with solely 10% of those funds managing greater than $150 million. It additionally discovered that the common crypto fund’s AUM is barely $21.9 million, indicating that, regardless of just a few massive fish, a lot of the sector is populated by smaller corporations attempting to capitalize on the cryptocurrency market.

Extra disconcertingly is that the report additionally notes a scarcity of unbiased governance within the common fund, provided that solely 25% have boards with unbiased administrators, one thing which may be dangerous in circumstances of emergency, when clear, cautious choices are wanted. Equally, over 90% of crypto hedge funds do not use third-party analysis, suggesting that they undergo from a deficit of exterior, goal enter.

Nonetheless, whereas this would possibly point out that the crypto hedge fund sector is immature and susceptible, there was a pronounced improve in crypto hedge funds and the belongings underneath their administration in 2018, in accordance with Morgan Stanley analysis. In 2014, as an example, there have been solely 31 such funds, whereas there have been 220 by November 2018. Extra impressively, these funds had $7.1 billion in belongings underneath administration in July 2018, pushed largely by demand and involvement from institutional buyers.

It is because of this that it could be unwise to foretell that the significance and presence of crypto funds gained’t develop even additional in 2019 and the years to come back. Because the foregoing overview has proven, they perform as an indispensable medium between massive institutional buyers and the nascent cryptocurrency trade. Because of this the extra they develop, the extra crypto turns into a part of the broader monetary system.